


Pool Rules

by SunlitGarden



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Lifeguards, Dual POV, F/M, Flirting, Lifeguard Betty Cooper, Pool Party, Southside Serpent Jughead Jones, Strangers to Lovers, parental guardian
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-06
Updated: 2020-04-06
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:01:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23512798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunlitGarden/pseuds/SunlitGarden
Summary: Lifeguard Betty Cooper reminds the Serpents to behave by the pool while she considers engaging in some risky behavior with a certain charming, protective Daddy.Jughead Jones is trying to make his sister Jellybean's birthday better than his own had ever been. To his surprise, the presence of a gorgeous, whip-smart, badass lifeguard is the ultimate gift.
Relationships: Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones
Comments: 55
Kudos: 252
Collections: 7th Bughead Fanfiction Awards - Nominees, Bughead Secret Santa





	Pool Rules

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ExMachina187](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ExMachina187/gifts).



> The prompt was for parental-ish Betty and/or Jughead vibes with banter so I did my best! I hope you all enjoy it!
> 
> Many thanks to @bettycooper for betaing and @theheavycrown for making the super cute header. They're both wonderful and supportive (and laugh about/enjoy trashy romance with me).

Betty wondered if anyone else in the room was analyzing how effective pool flotation devices could be as a weapon. In the past, she’d aggressively defended herself with rolling pins, shovels, fire pokers, and rocks, so there was no telling what this particular crew would find resourceful. The gang thing didn’t worry her so much as the fact that the kids all seemed to have a pretty strong issue with authority, making her job that much harder.

Wet feet clapped quickly across the tile. Betty blew her whistle on instinct, a sharp hoot to remind the community center patrons that somebody was watching. “Walk, please.” Being sweet, but firm tended to work best with everybody.

The child at the head of the runners stiffly resumed her journey to the paddleboard section, side-eyeing Betty like she didn’t believe running was dangerous in any capacity. Some point after Betty’s brother’s boyfriend tried to stab her in her sleep, she stopped bothering trying to be a people-pleaser and trusted her instincts. This kid was mad about something and was probably going to work it out with a pool floaty. For the time being, the crew settled on kickboards to race.

Things were going fine, so far, for a children's birthday party. No one had cried or made a show of peeing in the pool. People in leather jackets kept popping in from the eating area to shout something about jellybeans, which seemed kind of weird but not exactly troublesome.

After a while, the side-eye girl grew restless and clambered out of the pool, leaving a sloppy trail of water in her wake. Not bothering with a towel, she pushed her way into the dining room and scanned the tables like a woman on a mission. A man in a beanie who'd spent the majority of the party greeting people and eating pulled her aside for a conversation where he kneeled to her level, one hand on her shoulder. After a moment, she pushed him away and started running back to the pool area, fury and tears blazing in her eyes.

This time, instead of blowing the whistle, Betty hopped down from her perch and caught up to her. “Hey.”

The girl froze, alarm flashing across her face. Betty’s heart surged with the urge to hug her and make whatever happened better.

“You’re a really good swimmer. I haven’t seen you around before. Where did you learn to swim like that?”

“The quarry.” The girl tugged on a messy braid and looked at the window to the eating area, where the man with dark hair and a beanie straightened in alertness, a clunky old cell phone to his ear. He fisted a bunch of candy and shoved it in his mouth before snapping something to someone on the other line and hanging up.

Pretending she didn’t notice, Betty tried to keep the conversation light. “Very cool. You know, I used to run by the quarry.” For the sake of appearances, she pretended to need to organize the kickboards back into place. “Too bad I can’t run here.”

“Because you’re at work?”

“It’s too slippery,” she gestured. “Like falling on those plastic slides people put on their lawns, but with more injury.”

The child wrinkled her face. “You mean like when my uncles hose down a row of trash bags and everybody gets mud rashes?”

“Exactly!” she chirped, not wanting to imagine that mess in any capacity. “Be careful around here. I need someone to look out for me.” She winked. Betty was pretty happy with the way the child seemed to absorb the sentiment. The anger and tears faded as the kickboard tower wobbled.

Just then, the guy in the beanie emerged from the dining area, stalking towards them with confidence that made her straighten her spine.“What’s going on?” He radiated “Daddy” vibes–and not just for his little princess.

“The lifeguard’s clumsy.”

Shooting Betty an alarmed look, the man chided the girl with a “Jellybean!”

“It’s fine,” Betty insisted, still confused whether the word was some kind of meme or if “Jellybean” was the child’s name. Serpents tended to adopt bizarre nicknames if they deemed their birth ones too fancy. It would explain the gratuitous use of the word “Jellybean” and other random things like “Fangs” tossed around without any pets to assign them to. “Falling around the pool would make me pretty clumsy. The tenuous kickboard tower is a great example of how slippery things can be.”

The man seemed unconvinced. Jellybean tugged on his sleeve. “Come swim with me.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” he hedged, frowning at the water and tugging his beanie. No wedding ring, she noticed. Lots of other rings, though.

“Please?”

With a deep sigh, the tension seemed to leave his body. He offered the little girl a weak smile that Betty had to stop herself from mirroring. “Okay. You go in first, I’ll put my stuff in the locker.”

“And no beanie! You’re going _under_ the water, okay?”

He squeezed her arm and stuffed his hands in his pockets, a trait Betty recognized as something to put the other person at ease and hide discomfort. “Yep. You got it, birthday girl.”

JB bounded back into the pool with big strides and a medium splash. As soon as she popped back up to the surface, she turned and flashed the guy a big grin, inspiring his own affectionate beam.

Not wanting to intrude, Betty turned back to her tower.

“So was that really the whole thing?”

Confused, she looked at him, surprised to find his demeanor so serious, no trace of his fatherly pride whatsoever. “What ‘whole thing’?”

“You wanted to talk to her about slippery kickboards?”

“Oh, Jellybean–” She paused, giving him time to correct her, which, surprisingly, he didn’t. His eyes were a striking shade of blue compared to the turbulent pool water. “–Was running, and I didn’t want to embarrass her by blowing the whistle again, so I caught up to her and told her a story.”

His lips twitched into a rueful smile. “Like, a moral? No running in the pool area?”

“It may not have been riveting, but you’ll notice that this time, she was walking?” As the kickboards squeaked in protest at the restacking, the man scoffed, probably not even realizing his gaze moved to her ass because it trained on her face before he could even blink. “I know it seems silly, but I’ve seen one too many kids take a tumble and end up with nosebleeds or skinned knees. I don’t want her crying at her own birthday party. At least now she knows _why_ there’s the rule.”

“Doesn’t mean she’ll abide by it.”

“Of course not. Everyone makes mistakes.” She scratched the insides of her palms, long-healed, but still sensitive. "Stories can be powerful tools."

The man considered her, then seemed just about to speak when flecks of water burst against their legs.

At the edge of a pool floaty, Jellybean whined, “Come _on_.”

“Your lady is waiting,” Betty teased, slapping the top of the kickboard pile. “Remember, no running.”

“Aren’t you going to say anything about not swimming after eating?”

Shaking her head, Betty began to walk away. “And disappoint Jellybean? If you’re looking for an excuse to avoid swimming, you’re not going to get it from me.”

For some reason, his appreciative chuckle made her feel sort of fluttery. “How many times have you had someone pull a move from ‘The Sandlot’ on you? Just out of curiosity.”

Arching a brow, Betty leveled him with a hard gaze. Instinct told her he wasn’t flirting, entirely. It was a test. A challenge, in some respects. “Fake drowning will get you banished to a pool floaty prison. Besides,” she added, swinging her hips with what she hoped was a playful warning, “I’m not sure your sternum could handle me.”

“Oh, really?” He leaned back with a gleam in his eyes and a curve to his smile that made her dare to hope he saw her as more than some Baywatch babe. “If I could walk away without breaking anything after being pushed out a third-story window, I could probably handle your technique.”

“You underestimate me,” she mused, torn between digging into the story behind his big fall and respecting his privacy.

He laughed, ducking his head. “Probably. Just saying, I’m pretty hardy.”.

“Well, _Sir_ ,” she emphasized, something molten and warm lighting up in her belly when he met her gaze, his pupils swelling. “There are reasons we don’t do mouth-to-mouth anymore. Just a lot of _really_ _hard_ _pounding_ until I decide whether to crush your ribs or keep pumping until you see the light again.” If Veronica heard the tone, she’d probably whoop and ask when Dark Betty would return to the 900-number industry or join Kevin in some tickling parties. Truthfully, she didn’t find the job contributed much to the betterment of society beyond debunking some kinky mysteries. Working at the community center served people more efficiently, even if the pay left her moonlighting for other things. Blogging. Copyediting. Private Investigating.

Something in this man’s eyes made her wish she could access the part of herself that snapped into an authority and could have a man begging her for mercy. The way he kept smiling at her, _reading_ her, made her think maybe he wouldn’t break that way. He might smile through it, ask _how_ she’d punish him for being bad, let her dig her heels into his collar. Maybe he’d gently kiss her ankle in thanks, his hands traveling up her thighs until–

Starting, Betty looked away. There were kids around. A job to do. Sharply tugging her ponytail into place, Betty climbed up to her perch. Maybe she needed to put herself out there in reality so she didn’t fantasize about strangers with sexy smirks that seemed to look at her and see something deeper than a sweet, but firm lifeguard. Veronica was always throwing her at the “tasty” bartenders at the Speakeasy. They all seemed kind of one-dimensional, though. She couldn’t imagine actually talking to them about anything interesting, and without the intellectual connection, she just couldn’t get there sexually or emotionally.

The red buoy wobbled across her knees as she readjusted in her seat, gaze magnetically drawn to the side of the room where the guy with the beanie had shed his jacket and was lifting his shirt over his head, revealing a dark strip of hair from his bellybutton to the waist of his jeans.

She clenched the buoy against her legs, tensing as she struggled against the instinct to blow her whistle or join him. Thankfully, she didn’t have to. With the beanie miraculously still stuck on his head, he kept his effects close to his chest and sauntered off to the locker room to finish changing and put them away, she guessed. There were a lot of ripped guys who came to the community center: boxers, aspiring Aquaholics, fitness buffs. One lean guy in a beanie wouldn’t sweep her off her feet, no matter how interesting he seemed.

Besides, everything about the situation screamed “bad news.” First of all, he was in a gang. Kevin dated a Serpent for a while and the guy ended up needing to leave the state because of some issue with the law. Not exactly the type she could expect commitment from. Secondly, he seemed pretty young to have a kid as old as JB. Whatever he’d done in high school didn’t scare her off so much as potential Baby Mama drama. Her stomach twisted with memories of Polly and Jason arguing. Besides, there was only room for one leading lady in this guy’s life, if Jellybean’s glare was anything to go by, and she had no interest in getting between them, nor of being anyone’s second fiddle.

“Jughead!” Jellybean waved her arm and bounced, balancing on the pool noodle under her arms. “Over here!”

The man’s half-smile was charming, but the way he tugged on one giant, swooshy curl that hung in front of his eyebrow had Betty’s heart beating hard enough she almost wanted to test her pulse for safety reasons.

“Coming!”

Swallowing hard, Betty forced herself to look away and resume scanning the pool for the other kids.

Jughead and Jellybean were eccentric names, but with a niece and nephew legally “Juniper” and “Dagwood,” she didn’t fuss over it too much. The pair played “Serpent tale” in the shallow end while some other kids tossed one of the squishy balls that flicked water every time it launched in the air. Jughead hauled Jellybean around, despite the effort of essentially continuously dragging a human being, and acted out a whole ridiculous story for her, only pausing to catch his breath when he absolutely needed to, his muscles flexing as he stretched.

"Maybe if you didn't eat so many burgers and went to the gym once in a while instead of sitting on your butt writing embarrassing stories all day, you’d have more strength."

“I’m sorry, I can’t hear you when you’re so far away," Jughead mocked, tossing Jellybean three feet away, pool noodle be damned. She shrieked with glee as the water splashed around them. At least Jellybean seemed to be having a great time now that her dad was around. Honestly, so was Betty.

The lifeguard was looking. Jughead could feel her gaze warming the back of his neck and wished it was her fingers instead. He was happy. Stupidly so. Plus, Jellybean was having a great birthday party that had her enjoying the holiday as opposed to it being a stark reminder of their family failings, as his had been. He wasn’t failing.

Of course, it would be nice if Jellybean had a positive female role model around, a quiet longing he knew Jellybean had been harboring by the way she misbehaved in class so he’d meet her single teacher. While the teacher was perfectly nice, and yes, the girl at the game shop was somewhat interesting, he wasn’t motivated to pursue anything, and had to give Jellybean an awkward talk about compatibility and sexuality so she’d stop trying to put him in awkward situations.

The Jones appetite had them clambering out of the pool after about half an hour to get more sustenance. He patted Jellybean down with the Scooby-Doo towel they’d gotten from GoodWill and wrapped it around her shoulders like a cocoon to keep her warm.

Lifeguard smiled at them. He smiled back. Jellybean smirked at him and led the way to the dining area.

It was all very Hallmark special and unexpectedly made his heart flutter in his chest. Shoveling more candy in his gullet didn’t quell the urge to look over his shoulder and check out the blonde on her perch. What kind of chapstick did she use? Vanilla? Coffee? Was her favorite color pink? Did she like _Breakfast at Tiffany’s_ , _Casablanca_ , or Hitchcock movies?

“What are you staring at, creep?” Jellybean’s tightly-knit braid dripped onto Scooby’s face, crumbs sticking to her fingers.

“Just wondering if the lifeguard was hungry.”

Leaning up in her seat, Jellybean considered the pretty girl yonder and plucked a cupcake from the pile. It had pastel pink frosting. “Here. She can have this.”

“Really, Jellybean? That’s very generous of you,” he marveled, daintily receiving the treat. They never had much, but they always found a way to make it enough.

“Yeah. Plus, she’s pretty.” Jellybean licked her fingers and shrugged.

“Yeah.” He laughed, hoping the heat on his cheeks didn’t give him away. “Hopefully, she doesn’t find the Jones brand of good looks too intimidating.” He swooped his free hand through his hair and pretended to smolder.

“That might be more convincing if you didn’t have a booger hanging out your nose.”

“What?” Horrified, he blew his nose with a napkin. It came back mostly clean. Hopefully, Jellybean was just messing with him. He tossed the used napkin and grabbed a fresh one to cradle around the cupcake. “You’ll be okay for a minute?”

“Please. Leave me.”

“It’s too early for your surly, sarcastic phase.” He teased, pinching her cheek.

“Uch, stop!”

Grinning wildly, he pushed back from the table and headed towards the pool area. His confidence faltered as soon as the big-eyed beauty frowned at him. Subconsciously, he wiped his face, then his hair. Maybe he needed his beanie for this.

“No food is allowed in the pool area,” she informed him, toned thighs crossing over one another and making his mouth water.

“What if it’s a bribe?”

“For what?” Her pink lips curved into a slightly bewildered smirk.

“I don’t know yet, but I’m betting one of us is going to break a rule at some point.”

“Like bringing food into the pool area?”

“Yeah. Like that. Of course, if you don’t want it–”

Her eyes glimmered as she shifted her gaze to the proffered confection, although his waving, teasing fingers seemed to be what held her attention. “I can’t… eat while I’m on the clock.”

“Do you have a locker or something? I could put it away for you. Save it for later.”

“You think I just hand out my combination?”

“I was hoping for your digits, yes.”

Her eyebrows rose as she clearly fought back a laugh. “Wow.”

“I know. My charisma is pretty impressive. Plus, the cupcake. The six-pack.” He gestured to his undefined but reasonable lean abdomen, widening her smile. “I think that earns me at least a few numbers.”

“I don’t think you can _earn_ a phone number.”

“So should I bring this back to the dining area to give to my sister? Or can I be a rebel and sneak it somewhere for you later?”

“Your sister?”

“Yeah. Or, let’s face it, I could probably eat ten of these on my own, but it’s her birthday, so–”

“Jellybean is your sister?” The lifeguard uncrossed her legs and sat up, narrowing her eyes on where his sister chatted with some of her friends, probably about some Magic and Mysteries campaign, if the figurines they were examining were any indication.

“Yeah.” Confused, he shrugged.

“The way you protected and played with her, I thought you were her dad or something.”

Swallowing hard, he managed a smile. “Legal guardian, technically.”

Her mouth formed a perfect ‘o’, then snapped shut as she nodded, clearly processing. It was better she knew, anyway. He and Jellybean were a package deal.

“Anyway, I’ll take this back to the dining area. Thanks for keeping an eye on us.”

“Wait!” She hesitated, glancing at the pool, then at him. “Don’t you want to know my name, first?”

Not sure if he should be encouraged, Jughead quirked an eyebrow. “What’s your name?”

“Betty.” He smiled. What a beautiful name. He wasn’t sure why she folded her hands together, squeezing them tightly over the buoy on her lap. “Betty Cooper.”

This time, it was his turn for his mouth to fall open.

Betty Cooper.

Daughter of the Black Hood.

Badass Extraordinaire.

They never included her photo in the paper because she was a minor at the time all the drama happened.

“Wow.” She shrugged, mouth tugging down on one side. “You’re–you’re a legend.” She’d protected her family and the town from some seriously deranged people–some of whom were her presumably blood relatives, and still managed to keep a level head. At least, that was what it seemed like. That kind of sacrifice was something he could identify with. He put a hand on her tower and leaned closer, his heart beating loudly in his chest. “You’re a real lifesaver.”

She rolled her eyes and smiled at his joke–one he’d barely been conscious of making. “That’s one way of looking at it.”

He cleared his throat and sidled closer, enjoying the way her ponytail dangled as she opened herself up to him. “My sister has a Magic and Mysteries session with her friends after this at Pop’s diner. There will be burgers and milkshakes and they probably won’t let me sit with them, so if you’re interested in swapping horror stories or mysteries or”— _spit_ floats up somewhere from the depths of his mind—“anything, that’s where I’ll be.”

“Duly noted. And Jughead?” She swiped her finger in the frosting, then popped it into her mouth and sucked in a move that had his extremities tingling. “Bring the cupcake.”

**Author's Note:**

> I just want you all to know the self-restraint it took to refrain from finding an excuse to get them alone in the locker room. I'm a heathen. Plus, they look extra cute in swimsuits. I hope the promise of more is enough to sate you. If not, you have permission to playfully whack the back of my thighs with a pool floaty. If you liked it, please let me know in the comments or on Tumblr @lovedinapastlife, as I cannot actually go swimming in anything but love atm

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Pool Rules (inspired by)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26418886) by [redcirce](https://archiveofourown.org/users/redcirce/pseuds/redcirce)




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